Margot Wallström

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Margot Wallström
Margot Wallström
Incumbent
Assumed office 
22 November 2004
Preceded by Loyola de Palacio
In office
13 September 1999 – 11 November 2004
Preceded by Ritt Bjerregaard
Succeeded by Stavros Dimas
Born September 28, 1954 (1954-09-28) (age 53)
Skellefteå, Sweden
Political party Swedish Social Democratic Party
Profession finance, media, politician

Margot Elisabeth Wallström (ˈmaɾːɡɔt ˈvalːstɾœm) (born 28 September 1954 in Skellefteå[1]) is a Swedish Social Democratic politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy. She is also the first of five vice-presidents of the 27-member Barroso Commission.

Contents

[edit] Political career

Wallström, a high school graduate, has had a long career in politics, in the Swedish parliament, the Swedish government and in the European Commission. She was Environment Commissioner from 1999-2004 and in the Swedish government she was Minister for Consumer Affairs, Women and Youth in 1988-1991, Minister for Culture in 1994-1996 and Minister for Social Affairs in 1996-1998. Wallström has also worked as the CEO of a regional TV network in Sweden and before taking up her appointment as Commissioner she was the executive vice-president of Worldview Global Media in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Wallström is married and has two children.

In 2004, Wallström became the first member of the European Commission to operate a blog. The comments section of her site quickly became a hotspot for arguments concerning the policies of the European Union. After the rejection of the European Constitution by French and Dutch voters, Wallström pushed forward her "plan D" (for democracy, dialogue and debate) to reconnect Citizens with the Union. [2] Her work on such platforms, including the backing of the oneseat.eu petition, has given her a good reputation in some quarters, even being dubbed "the Citizens Commissioner".[3]

[edit] Recent events

Following the 2006 election, where the Social Democratic Party lost power, former Prime Minister Göran Persson announced his withdrawal from politics in March 2007. Wallström was regarded as the favourite candidate to succeed Persson as Social Democratic party leader[4], but made clear that she did not wish to be considered for the position[5][6]. The post instead went to Mona Sahlin.

Immediately after the election of Mona Sahlin as party leader, Wallström accepted a membership in a group working to develop political strategies for the upcoming election to the European Parliament. This was by Swedish liberal Carl B Hamilton (and later also Fredrik Reinfeldt) considered a breach of the oath every member of the European Commission gives, which states that any member of the commission should work for the community's best interest with no influence from politicians. On March 19, the vice chief spokesman of the European Commission, Pia Ahrenkilde-Hansen, stated that her new assignment was not in conflict with her commissioner position. The chief spokesman, Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, agreed.[7][8]

In December 2006, Wallström was voted the most popular woman in Sweden, beating royals and athletes in a survey carried out by ICA-kuriren and Sifo. The previous year, 2005, she was second place. Wallström was modest in response stating that "it might be because I'm so far away".[9]

As of November 16, 2007, Margot Wallström, became Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders Ministerial Initiative. This position was previously held by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright.

[edit] Curriculum Vitae

As of 2007[10]

Political career:

Employment:

  • 1998-1999 Executive Vice-president, Worldview Global Media, Colombo, Sri Lanka
  • 1993-1994 CEO, TV Värmland (Regional Television Network)
  • 1986-1987 Senior Accountant, Alfa Savings bank, Karlstad
  • 1977-1979 Accountant, Alfa Savings Bank, Karlstad

Education and other:

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Address of Margot Wallström to the European Parliament conference on the Northern dimension europa.eu
  2. ^ Will Wallström's 'plan D' revive the European dream? EurActiv.com
  3. ^ The European Parliament should work in Brussels Campaign for Parliament Reform 2006-09-18, Folkpartiet. Accessed 2007-07-18
  4. ^ Wallström favourite as leader
  5. ^ No to leadership, DN (Swedish)
  6. ^ Wallström: I don't want the job (The Local) (English)
  7. ^ Wallström not breaking rules (English)
  8. ^ Klartecken för Wallströms s-uppdrag (Swedish)
  9. ^ Sweden loves Reinfeldt and Wallström (The Local) (English)
  10. ^ Wallström's CV ec.europa.eu
  11. ^ Al Gore and the hot issues Wallström's blog
  12. ^ Swedish: “FOLKENS EUROPA eller Varför är det så svårt att älska EU?” - ISBN 91-89660-54-4
Political offices
Preceded by
Ritt Bjerregaard		 European Commissioner for the Environment
1999–2004		 Succeeded by
Stavros Dimas
Preceded by
New title		 European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy
2004–2009		 Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by
Loyola de Palacio, Neil Kinnock		 Vice-President of the European Commission
2004–2009
(jointly held position)		 Succeeded by
incumbent
Preceded by
Anita Gradin		 Swedish European Commissioner
1999–2009		 Succeeded by
incumbent
v • d • e
Barroso Commission (2004 - 2009)
President Barroso
1 = President. 2 = Vice President. 3 = Served from 1 January 2007. 4 = Vasiliou replaced Kyprianou on 3 March 2008.